“Today, we saw that diplomats coming out of the meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs unequivocally stated that no one intends to start relations from a clean slate until Bidzina Ivanishvili’s regime changes its anti-democratic policies,” said Salome Samadashvili, one of the leaders of “Strong Georgia - Lelo,” regarding the summoning of ambassadors to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

According to Samadashvili, until democratic parliamentary elections are scheduled in the country, “Georgian Dream” has no chance of resetting relations.

“We saw that if there was any doubt that these local elections could bring about any change in Ivanishvili’s regime’s relations with the West, it has been confirmed what we have always said: regardless of whether the opposition participates in these elections or not, until democratic parliamentary elections are scheduled in the country, ‘Georgian Dream’ has no chance of resetting relations.

Today, we saw that diplomats coming out of this meeting unequivocally stated that no one intends to start relations from a clean slate until Bidzina Ivanishvili’s regime changes its anti-democratic policies,” Samadashvili stated.

Samadashvili also addressed the European Parliament’s support for a simplified mechanism to suspend visa-free travel, noting that “Georgian Dream” has long been punishing its own citizens and may now add a new punishment in the form of revoking visa liberalization.

“We saw that the procedure related to simplifying the suspension of visa liberalization has been completed, and accordingly, there is every reason to believe that the threat has increased that, due to the policies implemented by ‘Georgian Dream,’ which contradict all the obligations Georgia took upon itself to obtain visa liberalization, our visa-free travel with the European Union could now be suspended more easily.

We will see what the European Union’s final decision will be. Our position remains the same: the Georgian people should not be punished because of ‘Georgian Dream,’ but ‘Georgian Dream’ has long been punishing its own citizens, including with poverty, lack of prospects, and unemployment, and it may now add a new punishment in the form of revoking visa liberalization,” Samadashvili stated.